


Library.

by heyitsnxel



Series: 30 Trope Prompts. [25]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bookworm Phil, Fluff, M/M, Really just a lot of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-11 02:28:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15305421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heyitsnxel/pseuds/heyitsnxel
Summary: Dan wasn’t sure how that simple interaction had led to him practically fawning over Phil every waking hour of his life, but it had, and that’s exactly what he was doing now.





	Library.

**Author's Note:**

> day 25: highschool AU (I saw something on tumblr about needing book nerd Phil fics and I agree, so here ya go. also I wrote this in like 30 minutes, so there may be some typos.)

There were a few things that Dan knew about Phil Lester.

 

Firstly, he was weird. Not in the ‘stay away from him, he gives me weird vibes’ kind of weird. But the general kind of weird that pushed some people away and fascinated others.

 

Secondly, there wasn’t a single mean bone in his entire body. There had been countless times where he had gotten bullied and picked on, yet even when defending himself, he never stooped as low as his antagonists. He never shied away from anyone who looked lonely or like they needed help with anything. He was always the first person to rush to someone’s defense if they were getting picked on.

(Dan thought he was almost _too_ nice, but it wasn’t like he’d ever say anything about that.)

 

Thirdly, he spent more time in the library than anywhere else in his whole life. Whether it was the school library or the town, if anyone was looking for Phil Lester they could find him there. His nose was always buried deep in the middle of a book – usually a different one everyday – and it took quite a bit of prodding to get him to actually snap out of the pages and come back to real life.

 

Despite knowing all this, Dan had only spoken to Phil a few occasions in the past few months of high school. It had started in the library – obviously – and left Dan with a crush that made his heart hurt and the annoying kind of nervousness that made him embarrass himself every time Phil was remotely close to him.

 

Phil had been hauling around a book that looked like it weighed at least ten pounds. The seam was frayed, cover scratched, and even from the outside edges, Dan could tell the pages were bent. The school library was usually rather quiet – fitting, considering it was a library afterall – but today there seemed to be a lot of students milling around. It was the time of year for research papers.

 

Dan hadn’t gone to the library for a book. He didn’t have a research paper. In fact, Dan wasn’t even sure he’d ever stepped foot into the library until this day.

 

No, Dan was running – something he should be good at by this point in his life, but really wasn’t – and the library seemed like the natural place to hide. There were always some issues with being the school’s resident emo kid. His anxious tendencies and generally awkward personality didn’t help much with that and made him a prime target for bullying. So, really, it was just another Thursday afternoon for him to be running in between bookshelves and hiding out until Jake and his band of friends decided to go away.

 

Currently, Dan found himself turning down another row of shelves and casting a glance back over his shoulder. Which was exactly when Phil Lester came into the picture. Since Dan hadn’t been looking, he found himself turning around and colliding straight into the other boy. The large book in his hands fell to the floor with a loud thud, quickly followed by himself as he stumbled back from Dan’s impact and tripped over it.

 

“Shit!” Dan exclaimed loudly, slapping a hand over his mouth. This was a library after all. “Sorry, sorry! I – “

 

 

“The library is only so big, Daniel. You can’t hide from us forever.”

 

 

Stifling a groan, Dan decided that he was just going to have to deal with Jake today. There really wasn’t much hiding he could do in here, and besides, he’d just knocked Phil over because he was running around like a crazy person. Phil had already stood to his feet, eyebrows knitted together in curiosity (or concern, Dan couldn’t tell) as he heard Jake’s voice.

 

“Go.” Phil said, wrapping his fingers around Dan’s wrist and tugging him behind him. He gave him a gentle shove towards the back of the library. “There’s some tables in the back, behind the historical fiction. You just have to squeeze between the F-I and J-M shelves. No one really knows it’s there.”

 

Without any forewarning, Phil had given Dan’s shoulder another gentle shove and he found himself heading to where Phil had directed him to go. It didn’t surprise him to find the gap between the shelves, but the massive amount of books piled on the tables behind them did.

 

From children’s literature to Shakespeare, the tables were stacked high. Most of the books had page markers and sticky notes with messy handwriting stuck to their covers. A bag was slung over the back of one of the chairs, covered in a dark purple and blue galaxy pattern that he immediately recognized as Phil’s.

 

“Don’t tell anyone, okay?”

 

Dan jumped at Phil’s voice, whirling around on his heels to find the older boy was much closer than he anticipated him to be. Giving a shaky nod, Dan let himself slump down into one of the empty chairs at the table.

 

“Thank you…”

 

Dan stayed behind the shelves with Phil for the rest of his free period watching Phil read and occasionally scrawl down something on another sticky note. He wondered what he was thinking, how his mind worked. He knew the other boy always had a thing about books, but this was different than he expected. Phil occasionally glanced up and gave Dan a small smile before making a comment that seemed to come completely out of nowhere, leaving Dan struggling to find a response. By the time he finally did, Phil’s face would already be covered by the book again and Dan didn’t have it in him to interrupt.

 

 

That was the day it all started. Dan wasn’t sure how that simple interaction had led to him practically fawning over Phil every waking hour of his life, but it had, and that’s exactly what he was doing now. Phil was sat a few rows in front of him. His Biology book was open on his desk, but a smaller book was lying across his lap and Dan could tell he was reading that instead. Dan watched his fingers quietly grab the corners of the pages, flipping to the next, and repeating the process for the whole class. He knew he was staring, but he couldn’t help it.

 

The bell rang and snapped Dan out of his thoughts. He didn’t see Phil for the rest of the day.

 

* * *

 

 

The school library was closed. The door was locked and there was a sign taped on the front that read **_‘Temporarily Closed for Renovations.’_**

 

Dan wasn’t surprised to see Phil standing outside the door, a frown curving on his lips and fingers clenched around the book in his hand. If Dan had any nerve, he would have walked up to Phil and talked to him then. He would have made some kind of conversation. But he didn’t.

 

He just watched Phil walk away.

 

He did the same the next day, as well.

 

Dan wasn’t sure how long the school library was going to be closed. But, he wasn’t sure if he could deal with seeing Phil frowning like that every day. Their interactions may have been limited, but Dan was head over heels and keeping a frown off Phil’s face suddenly was his top priority.

 

Dan wasn’t as much of a bookworm as Phil, but he did have a shelf of random books at home and he knew where an empty classroom was. It used to be the old music room, he’d go in there and play the piano before they moved it into the auditorium.  So, the next day, when Phil stood in front of the library door, there was a copy of _The Hunger Games_ propped against it, a sticky note on the front that said: **_Classroom 4-C._**

 

Dan felt creepy for watching him from behind the corner of the wall, but he had to make sure Phil got the note and no one else. Phil’s eyes flicked up and down the hallway, clearly looking for some kind of explanation, but he got none. Dan had dipped back behind the wall before he even had a chance to catch a glance of him.

 

When Phil tucked the book under his arm and began to walk in the direction of the empty classroom, Dan let himself relax. He knew the little stack of books he’d left in the classroom was nothing compared to an actual library, but he hoped Phil would appreciate the gesture anyway. And if he didn’t? Oh well, he’d never know it was Dan in the first place.

 

* * *

 

 

The library stayed closed for the remainder of the week and every day, Dan watched Phil go into the classroom and shut the door. He wasn’t sure which one of his books he was reading or if he’d read all of them, but his heart swelled with pride that he had managed to do something to make Phil happy. Too bad he wasn’t going to get any credit for it since he was too much of a wuss to say anything, but it’s the thought that counts.

 

The day the library opened again, Dan knew Phil would go back there. An old stack of books was nothing compared to a room full of them, after all. So when he opened the door to the classroom to get all the books out, he was beyond shocked to find Phil sitting in a chair, feet propped on top of the table, with a tattered copy of _Winnie the Pooh_ in his lap.

 

“Hey.” Phil looked up, smiling so casually that it caught Dan off guard.

 

Dan could feel his face start to flush, so he forced a shaky smile onto his lips and acted like he had come in the room for a completely different reason. Phil watched him as he walked around, desperately wracking his brain for any excuse to be in there – but he was coming up empty.

 

“T-The library’s open again.”

_No shit, Dan._

 

An amused smile crossed Phil’s face, folding the book closed in his lap before speaking, “I know.”

 

“I figured… you’d be in there?”

 

“I knew you’d come back to get the books.” Phil said, shifting the glasses on his face. “So, I waited for you.”

 

“How’d you know it was me?”

 

“Your name is in the front cover of at least three of these books,” Phil laughed and Dan felt an eruption of butterflies in his stomach, “Thank you though. Come to library tomorrow during your free period?”

 

The flush creeping up Dan’s neck was impossible to hide. He watched as Phil’s eyes trailed upwards to his cheeks, a knowing smile playing on his lips.

 

“Alright.”

 

* * *

 

Their first library date quickly turned into more and soon enough, Dan was spending every free period with Phil. Sometimes Phil would read out loud in a hushed whisper, letting Dan lean back against his side. Sometimes he would read silently while Dan played a game on his phone.

 

More recently, Phil had been giving Dan books to read while he sat there. After his make shift library, Phil had decided Dan had bad taste in literature (aside from the Shakespeare; he was rather impressed by that) and wanted to expose him to some of his favorites. He started making a small pile of books on the corner of the table – “Dan’s corner” – and waiting for him to pick one every day.

 

Today Dan’s corner seemed to be stacked with romance novels. Which was an odd choice for Phil.

 

He flipped through the titles one by, raising an eyebrow the lower into the stack he got. When he finally looked back up, Phil was peeking over the top of his book, quick to drop his gaze down before Dan noticed. It felt wrong to shrug it off, but he did, grabbing a book out of the middle of the stack. As soon as he turned the front cover, a notecard fell out and fluttered down to the floor, landing next to his shoe.

****

**_‘shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? you’re hot.’_** was written across the card and Dan couldn’t hide the snort that followed. He looked up at Phil who was watching him with a faint smirk.

 

“How’d you know I’d pick up that one?”

 

Phil coughed, shifting awkwardly in his chair. “I kind of put one in every book, just in case.”

 

The smile that spread across Dan’s face was the most genuine he thought it had ever been. Shaking his head fondly, he drug his chair across to where Phil was and slid it next to him.

 

“You’re such a nerd.”

 

Phil bumped him with his shoulder and Dan could tell he was rolling his eyes without even having to look.

 

“Yeah, but I'm _your_ nerd.”

 

This time it was Dan rolling his eyes. Tipping his head against Phil's shoulder, he sighed.

"Yeah, you are."

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! 
> 
> I met Dan and Phil last week at ii and honestly? best day of my life, tbh. but I've been super inspired to write since then, so if you read my chaptered fics, I'm starting a new one this week. :)


End file.
